


a flock of hawkes

by fracturedvaels



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Familial bonding, Gen, party dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 07:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4598889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fracturedvaels/pseuds/fracturedvaels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>insight into the hawke family dynamics, when leandra asks her adopted kids to help her out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a flock of hawkes

Aveline hates parties, but she goes when Leandra asks her to. Her name is Amelie De La Hou, a Ferelden noble of modest standing. She’s of the Redcliffe arling, former Lady of Lothering and close, dear friend of the eldest Hawke. She speaks fondly of a child she never met, and of two she did.

Everyone knows Varric Tethras, but no one knows Bodahn. He has so much fun that night, pretending to be someone else - trying on a character, Lady Hawke, he tells Leandra later when she asks about it. And if people stop by to talk to Bodahn some more, nobody’s the wiser for it.

Leandra picks Isabela’s dress, and introduces her as a niece - Alandra, of Rivain, a distant cousin. Isabela complains about the lace coming up to her neck and how the seams bunch up, but she doesn’t complain about the pretty things she’s able to nick from the ladies gossiping behind their hands about _poor Leandra Amell, run off with that apostate lad, and did you hear about her children? A Warden for a son? Mage children? How disgraceful._ If Gamlen wakes up with a bottle of absinthe on his window sill, he doesn’t bring it up.

Merrill doesn’t know how to be a servant, but as a _ward_ , she’s quite a treat. She’s aware enough to know the things they say are hidden insults, and doesn’t hesitate to teach them greetings in evlish - and how it’s always proper to greet the Dalish with _len’alas lath’din, elvhen-alas._

Leandra knows better than to bring Fenris to the bigger parties - and knows he only obliges because of Hawke. She’s rather shocked when he shows he knows more than enough to pass as a dedicated servant.

Orana is a treasure. She’s better than Fenris - being a servant was her whole life - but there’s something special about seeing a young girl be a _girl_  again, and when she shows off how her dress flounces when she spins, Leandra tries not to tear up.

Anders doesn’t do parties. Too high profile, and the nobility is not his type. He can’t work a crowd and he knows he couldn’t shut up about mage rights long enough to keep them all out of trouble. But he’s always there to walk her home, should there be absolutely no one else, and he does it without complaint.

Sebastian is… not like the rest. He can’t hide behind a fake name. And he’s too bred to court to not play the Game. Kirkwallers are simple, with their words and phrases, and they smile like they play for keeps. Sebastian knows better and sugarcoats the barbs so they sing before they sting. It feels strange, being at parties again. Feels like an uncomfortable second skin, and he expects his mother to com parting the crowd to ask if he’s met any nice second or third daughters yet. But Leandra has fun, and that seems to be all that matters.

(Of course, if they all later depart - on the rare moments all of them are there, together with her, Anders lingering outside the door to lead the way - if they all depart with pilfered bottles and cakes and find their way to the docks, where they meet up with Donnic and a returning Hawke, they don’t bring it up. If they head to the hills just outside of Kirkwall to kick off their shoes and dance in the mud and just be a family, that’s okay. That’s alright. They’ve earned this.)


End file.
